The Experiment
by RoseyG30
Summary: "As you all probably know, this year we have decided to do a little experimenting with pack mentality that we have seen around the campus." The students started to murmur to each other, but Stiles's table stayed quiet, waiting to know why they're sitting with the main werewolf pack of the school.


Fuck junior year.

Stiles was perfectly fine with High School; no, really, he didn't mind the homework, the demands by the teachers, or all the assholes, but junior year was fucking shit. The only problem? It's been half of his first day and he already hates it: his teachers suck, his classmates suck, and his curriculum sucks. The only class he has with any of his friends is biology with all of them, strangely enough, and lunch. That's it! You would think he and Lydia would at least have gotten some advanced placement classes together, but the school board was trying to do it's best to separate all of the "packs" in school, including the ones that weren't werewolves.

He's gotten through U.S. History, Pre-Calculus, and his foreign language, Russian, in honor of his mother, and he was ready to start complaining to his "pack" at lunch, until he walked into the cafeteria. He saw everyone who was usually there: Scott, Allison, Lydia, Jackson, and Danny, but including his normal group was situated Derek Hale, Erica Reyes, Boyd, and Isaac Lahey. What the fuck?

It was strange: Scott and Allison were sitting across from Isaac, the three of them giving each other awkward stares. Erica was sitting across from Jackson and Lydia, Erica and Lydia seeming to be in a heated discussion while Jackson provided his dramatic eye-rolling in favor of keeping his mouth shut, and Danny and Boyd were just staring; no awkwardness involved, just staring.

Then there was Derek. Derek sat alone farther from everyone else, and Stiles saw his name on the bench across from him.

"Why?" There were many other, better things that Stiles could have said, but that was definitely one of the least vulgar of the options.

"We don't know. Just sit down and wait for the principal to come in." Derek answered him and Stiles didn't seem too compelled to sit, until Scott grabbed him by his sleeve and shoved him down into his seat, his beanie and glasses flying all over the place, and his back pack hitting Derek in the leg. Derek looked up in alarm but before Stiles could apologize, the principal came in and the entire cafeteria became deathly silent.

"As you all probably know, this year we have decided to do a little experimenting with pack mentality that we have seen around the campus." The students started to murmur to each other, but Stiles's table stayed quiet, waiting to know why they're sitting with the main werewolf pack of the school. "Well, we decided not to completely split you apart; however, you have all probably noticed a certain lack of your members in most of your classes." Stiles let out a loud snort and Derek gave him a look before looking back to the head of the cafeteria. "Alright, look across your tables," everyone turned to the other person, "this will be your partner for the year." Stiles and Derek both mirrored each other's expressions: wide-eyed and horrified.

Before the principal continued, a girl from a few tables over shouted to him, "My partner and I aren't even in any of the same classes!" everyone started nodding to her statement and the principal, along with the teachers involved, started to laugh.

"Think back on your first few classes." Was all the principal said before he started speaking to the staff in the room with him. Stiles gave Derek a look and, yeah, Stiles remembers actually that Derek was in every single one of his classes. Stiles would always sit in the front, but Derek liked to lurk, yes lurk, in the back of the classroom; he would barely say a single word, while Stiles never shut up with his comments. This was torture.

Seriously, fuck junior year.

"Do they think this is funny?" Jackson yelled to the table, well, actually, he yelled it towards his side of the bench; the humans of the table. However, Isaac was the one to respond, "they're trying something new," He shrugged and just dug out his food from his backpack.

"This is so not cool." Allison mumbled but that was it for her, while Jackson and Lydia kept sending Isaac a look.

"Can you stop staring at him? I can smell the disdain." Erica snapped at her new "partners", and, yeah, that was creepy, because what the hell does she mean by she can _smell _disdain?

"You can smell us?" Danny practically squeaked and that was when the entire table started yelling at each other. It was about half a minute of incoherent mumbling and shouts before Stiles had enough.

"Shut up!" but it wasn't his own voice; he looked to Derek and saw him standing in the same position as him: hands slammed on the table, neck arched down, staring at the betas even though he was one as well. Stiles looked back at his own friends and saw them giving Derek a look now, but before they could say anything, Stiles spoke up.

"There is no point to bitch and complain because you know they won't change anything until at least second semester." Stiles started, but before he could continue, Derek spoke up.

"Stiles is right. We need to suck it up and at least try to get along, or else this will be a _very _painful year." Stiles gave Derek a nod and they both sat back down, ignoring their friends in exchange for their food.

No one talked for the rest of the lunch period, but everyone started yelling at each other once they got into the biology classroom and saw their lab partners.

"Why do I have to be partnered with, _Isaac?" _

"Be grateful that you get someone like him!"

"I feel bad for Lydia and Jackson for having to have you."

"Do't talk to her like that!"

"Oh, put a cork in it, Boyd!"

"Watch your mouth, Mahealani!"

Stiles rolled his eyes and he couldn't help but laugh as he saw Derek do the same thing. Maybe the teachers weren't too off with his partner, but that so doesn't excuse the fact that he and Derek are complete polar opposites, even if they act the same way in regards to annoying packs.

"Alright, settle down and take your seats, please." The classroom as whole was made up of four separate packs with Stiles's and Derek's on one side and a group of sophmore packs on the other.

"So, you've all heard of the little experiment that the school has established?" The class nodded and the teacher gave a weak laugh in answer of her own opinion on the matter. "I'm hoping that you all can work together: biology is a highly partner oriented course, in fact, we will be doing a lab today." No one did a thing; they just let the teacher hand out the syllabus for the class and she started explaining the basic lab: having mold grow on bread.

"Back to seventh grade." Derek mumbled and Stiles couldn't suppress a laugh. Derek gave him a pained look and that made Stiles stop; he thought they were getting along, apparently not.

Stiles was quiet for the rest of the class, which was definitely unusual, and Derek had barely given Stiles a second look, only addressing him when completely necessary, and yeah, that hurt.

They both had advance placement English after and they had assigned seats in that class too. It was as if the first few classes they had was a strange sense of security and then the rug was pulled from under them; tomorrow they'll probably be sitting next to each other in all their classes.

"Welcome to advanced placement. You are all here because you've decided to take initiative, am I right?" The class was, it was, it was somber, that's what it was. Nobody moved or said a thing; Stiles knew that splitting packs, whether human or werewolf, was like splitting people's limbs and setting them off alone. Stiles felt like pieces of him were scattered and he was only human; he can't imagine how Derek must feel.

"Tough crowd. Anyways, we will be starting with Stephen King's On Writing."

That's how the classes were like; Derek and Stiles sitting next to each other but not speaking, and Stiles feeling like his heart was about to burst until Scott bumped his shoulder against Stiles's at the end of the day.

"How was your day?" They were walking down to Stiles's jeep, and the last thing Stiles wanted to do was talk about how much he didn't mind Derek but hated him at the same time.

"Crappy. What about you?" Stiles asked, and that led into a rant about how annoying and pessimistic Isaac is and how thank god Allison was there or else Scott might have had to shoot himself in the foot. Stiles really wished he had an Allison, but he just had himself to deal with Derek.

With a promise to pick Scott up tomorrow morning, Stiles dropped him off at his house and proceeded to go to an empty home. His father had the late shift today and Stiles was not up for making the drive down to the station just to complain to his dad.

It was only the first day, but the History and English teacher were brutal with homework; it was bad enough that he had summer homework for both of them, but now he has terms and to start reading that Stephen King book. However, Stiles was a professional procrastinator and pulled his laptop up, checking his email and facebook for something aimless to do.

Stiles didn't expect anything to actually be there, but his facebook flashed with four new friend requests and saw Derek and his pack adding him onto facebook. It took him literally an entire minute, just staring at the computer screen, jaw slacked, until he pressed all the accept buttons, and the little notification bar to his right showed his acceptions along with the rest of his group of friends doing the same.

"It's a good thing that werewolves have bigger balls than us, or else none of us would have done it first."

"I heard that." Stiles nearly had a heart attack, nearly. Looking to his window he saw Derek crouched, ready to come into his room, with one eyebrow cocked in a mocking way. Stiles was now sprawled on his floor, banging his head against the soft carpet, and clutching his hand over his heart. Fucking Derek Hale.

"What are you doing here?" All Stiles got was an eyeroll and Derek finally coming fully into his room, reaching his hand down to offer Stiles help getting up. Stiles just gave him a look and Derek did another eyeroll, well, apparently the relationship will have to be focused on facial expressions alone, because neither of them were talking. Derek just grabbed Stiles by both ends of his plaid shirt and yanked him to his feet, adjusting his beanie and glasses in the process.

Stiles felt like screaming, but, no that's not nice. So he settles with a weak "thanks" and Derek just shrugs.

"Are you gonna tell me why you're here?" Derek rolled his eyes, _again, _and sat down on Stiles's, luckily, made bed.

"You do realize you're basically pack now, right?" Stiles didn't think he heard him properly: how the fuck is he now part of Derek's pack?

"Um, why?"

"Because that's what the school is trying to do. They think that if they integrate human's into werewolf packs then the werewolves will be less likely to cause havoc in favor of the human's safety." Stiles is pretty sure that that's the most Derek has ever said to him, but he didn't vocalize it, no, Stiles just made a strange noise in the back of his throat that resembled a dog whining and he couldn't help but go red.

"Sorry." Derek shrugged again and pulled out his laptop from his bag, and opened it to a page on mythology, oh yeah, Stiles and Derek both had the same stupid extracurricular and were currently doing a report on Kanimas.

That's how it was; the two of them doing separate research for about an hour, going through the material and having Derek rule out anything that sounded too crazy, and then Stiles offered to make dinner.

"My mom was actually wondering if you could come over. She wants to meet you." Stiles's eyes went comically wide and Derek just cocked his eyebrow again, always with the damn eyebrow,

"Um, ok, uh, sure. Just let me call my dad." Derek nodded and Stiles grabbed his phone before dialing his father. He picked up on the third ring.

"No, Stiles, I don't need you to bring me dinner."

"One, that is so not how you great someone; two, you should not be eating anything from the station, and I really hope whatever food they have out tonight is low cholesterol; and, three, I was just wondering if it would be alright if I go over to the Hale's for dinner."

"The Hales?" Stiles could totally sense his dad's worry, it was somewhat comforting. "Why are you going over to the Hale house?"

"Did you hear what happened at school?"

"Yes, Melissa called and asked if that was even legal, because Scott was so frustrated. It is legal, just in case you were wondering." Yeah, Stiles was kind of wondering, now he has nothing to go against the school board.

"Well, Derek is my partner and so his mom wants to meet me." Stiles chanced a glance at Derek and saw him staring at him intently. This time, Stiles cocked his own eyebrow and Dereck just shook his head, darting his head down to look at his hands.

"It's fine with me Stiles: Talia is a good alpha. I've had many encounters with her to deal with territory, and she's nice enough. She was friends with your mother as well, and anyone that could please Claudia had to be a good person." Stiles looked back at Derek and saw him giving Stiles an unreadable look, but this time Stiles didn't question it.

"Oh, ok. Well, I'll see you tonight or tomorrow morning then. Be safe dad."

"Thanks, kid. You too." and the phone clicked off. Stiles sighed and pocketed his phone before shrugging off his plaid shirt and swapping it for a black button up, and trading his worn out Adidas for a pair of converse.

"What are you doing?" Stiles turned to see Derek giving him an odd look, and Stiles just shrugged and finished buttoning his shirt.

"First impressions. Gotta look nice, get it?" Derek nodded and started packing his material back into his backpack while Stiles grabbed his wallet and keys off of the desk and shoved them into the coat he put on.

"Still keeping the beanie and glasses?"

Stiles gave Derek an incredulous look before responding, "I said good first impression, not changing who I am. These things are like my trademark."

"You wouldn't need glasses if you were a werewolf." That's actually what Stiles was afraid of hearing: he didn't want to be reminded that all the werewolves were better at him naturally, because it was just really un-fucking-fair.

"Well, I'm not. I'm just a scrawny, lanky, good-for-nothing human who is inferior to your werewolf powers." Stiles set Derek with a glare and the look on Derek's face was a mixture of shocked and angry. He so didn't deserve to be angry at Stiles, no fucking way.

"Look, I didn't-"

"Yes, you did. Whatever. It's fine." Stiles rolled his eyes this time and opened his bedroom door, holding it open for Derek to go through. Derek stood in Stiles's room for a moment later and then walked through and set Stiles with the famous "Hale" look; it was a mixture of condensation, hubris, and anything else that makes them the most powerful family of werewolves there is. Stiles had to appreciate it, not like, but appreciate.

They walked out of the house in silence, and before Stiles could go to his jeep, Derek grabbed him by the hood and took him to his camaro. They looked at each other before opening either door, and gave each other huffs of annoyance. Damn their similarities.

The ride was quiet and Stiles wouldn't stop shaking his leg. Every red light that came up, Derek would look at Stiles's leg and pointedly give him a look to stop, but, nope, if they weren't talking he wasn't stopping. ADHD was great at annoying people.

They pulled up to the big Hale house in the woods and Stiles could smell the difference of the air. He would have loved to live in the woods; his mother used to tell him of when she was younger and ran through the woods in Russia. She would describe the feeling of being totally free, and that didn't sound bad at all.

"Remember everybody can-" Stiles cut Derek off with a wave of a hand: back in elementary school all of his friends were werewolves, but once they got to middle school it wasn't cool to hang with a human, so Stiles spent all of sixth grade attached to Scott's hip, because that was the only friend he had.

"You must be Stiles." Stiles looked up and saw a woman that he was very familiar with, but never actually met. Talia Hale was _the _alpha in Beacon Hills and everyone knew what she was capable of. She was one of the rare alphas that could turn into an actual wolf, and it made her, like, five times cooler.

"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Hale." Stiles said, stepping up to shake the woman's hand, but she just smiled at him and bowed her head to him. He retracted his hand and gave Derek a look, but he seemed just as confused.

"You're Claudius son, am I right?"

Stiles nodded weakly and Talia gave a full smile, fangs pulled back but canines in full view.

"She was a very dear friend of mine. I used to come by the hospital when she was ill, but I'm sure you would't remember." Stiles had to think back, but he definitely remembered her coming in a few times and he remembered her bringing Derek once even.

"Mom?" Stiles looked behind Talia and saw Laura Hale. She was famous at the school and was currently studying at Stanford; she was extremely smart like the rest of her family.

"Laura, come meet Stiles. He is Derek's partner at school, due to that strange system they're doing this year." Stiles snapped his head back to Talia and gave her a strange look.

"You don't agree with it?" Talia turned and looked Stiles in the eye, her eyes flashed red and he was sure it was to see how he reacted, but it didn't affect him like he thought it would.

"I don't. I don't agree with how segregated the humans and werewolves have become with each other either; however, it is up to them to decide to end it, not a school board." Stiles nodded his agreement and then was escorted into the house with Laura pinching his cheeks and throwing a hand over his shoulder.

"This is Cora. Cora, come say hi to Stiles." Stiles looked and saw basically a girl version of Derek if there was one. He's seen her around the hallways and he knows that she's only a year younger than him, but she had skipped her freshmen year and was two years younger age-wise.

"I know Stiles. We have that weird biology class together." Stiles had to think back again, and yeah, he saw her with Matt, possibly.

"Your partner is Matt?" She nodded and he just gave her a grimace in response.

"Careful with him: he's a little strange. Stalker issues." Stiles didn't know why he was telling her this, but it totally felt like the right thing to do, so he wasn't sorry at all.

"I'm aware but Stiles, remember, I'm a werewolf that can hurt him really badly if he tries anything." Cora's smile was too sweet to be innocent and Stiles couldn't help but smile back at her. He always liked people like that.

"Noted."

Stiles then met Talia's mate, James, who was a lawyer for werewolf and people relations.

"My dad says you're one of the best lawyers he's ever seen." Stiles admitted and by the look on James's face, he knew that Stiles wasn't lying to him.

"And I respect your father: he tries to do everything right by humans and werewolves alike." Stiles nodded and then Derek came and slammed his hand down onto Stiles's shoulder, hard. Stiles crumpled under the weight and he could see by the look on Derek's face that it was so not an accident.

"Come to my room. The food will be done soon." Stiles just nodded and let Derek drag him by his wrist to his room.

"How many rooms does this house have?" Stiles asked, seeing the size of Derek's room and that he didn't even share it with a sibling was surprising. Stiles shrugged his coat off and Derek took it, hanging it on his desk chair.

"Six: mine, my mothers and fathers, my sisters each have their own, and then two guest bedrooms for family members and friends." Stiles just nodded and looked around Derek's room. He saw pictures of him and his pack playing baseball, some of when he and his sisters were younger and out at a picnic, and one of Derek and Paige.

Everyone heard what happened to her; she was a cellist who fell in love with Derek last year. They went out for a few months but she had gotten bitten by an alpha and didn't take to the bite. Rumor had it that the reason Derek's eyes were blue and not amber was because he had killed her to help her with the pain. After that, Derek only spent time with his family, Isaac, Erica, and Boyd.

Stiles turned to Derek and saw him just staring. Stiles gave him a weary smile and Derek ducked his head, ears and cheeks pinking.

"You know no one blames you."

"Tell that to her parents."

"I don't blame you." Derek looked up and Stiles wore a genuine smile and it got Derek to give his own, sad smile. Derek nodded his head after a beat of silence and got up from where he was sitting on his chest at the end of his bed.

"Mom says dinner is ready." Stiles nods and follows Derek out the door and back down the stairs to the kitchen. Everyone gave him a smile when he came down, and his cheeks instantly went red. Of course they could hear him say that to Derek, of course.

"Stiles," he looked up to Laura handing him a plate of potatoes, "go put those on the table please." Stiles nodded and took the plate over to the dining room. He saw that his name was put on a little note where he was sitting between Derek on his left and then Talia at the head of the table to his right. The rests filed in and sat where they were placed before Derek showed up and nodded to Stiles's seat.

"So, Stiles, I heard you were taking Russian as your foreign language?" Talia asked, and that was how Stiles started telling her about how his mother spoke it, and then they got into a discussion about his mother. It was strange, he could barely speak to Scott or his own father without crying, but here he was telling Talia, and the table in general, about all the stories of the times he spent with his mother. Every time Stiles would look to his left, Stiles would see Derek looking at him, and he just kept looking, sometimes giving him an encouraging smile.

"I think I remember her and even you." Laura spoke up, and Stiles wasn't surprised at all. His mom apparently really liked the Hales; that's what he's hearing from Talia, and he can see why she would.

"This place is kind of familiar but no certain memory comes back."

"I wouldn't think so. You were probably four. You liked to come and play with Derek and I would be told to watch you guys." Stiles smiled and nudged Derek in the ribs while Derek just gave a small smile and went back to eating. It was strange, Stiles thought Derek hated him, and he was pretty sure that he had hated him, but maybe Stiles did something? Maybe it was the environment?

They finished dinner and Stiles was basically forced out of the kitchen and dining room, so that he wouldn't be able to help with clean up. Derek dragged him to the living room and explained that they had a tradition that after the first day and last day of a semester, the family would sit down and watch a ninety's high school movie. Since he was the guest, he could pick which one he wanted. He decided to pick The Breakfast Club, because "it's a total classic, duh, Derek." Derek had rolled his eyes and just put the disc in and the two discussed Kanimas until everyone was situated.

Luckily, Stiles didn't fall asleep as if he was in a melodrama, and Derek drove him home before ten o'clock with a promise to see him tomorrow.

Stiles went to bed an hour later after finishing his history homework and replaying every detail to Scott and Lydia through a group message on facebook. Scott told him that it was weird and Lydia said that at least Derek had better manners than Erica who almost blocked both her and Jackson on facebook.

The next morning, Stiles woke up to a text by Derek asking him if he needed a ride to school.

"Can't. Have to pick up Scott."

The message back was almost instantaneous: _"Isaac is picking him and Allison up."_

"Um, ok then."

_"Good. Be ready within an hour." _ Stiles had no clue what that was about. Whether it was a werewolf thing or a Derek thing, he didn't know, but he still begrudgingly got out of bed and took a hot shower with just enough time to grab a waffle from the toaster when Derek texted him that he was here.

Stiles grabbed an extra paper towel and put a waffle in one for himself and one for Derek before grabbing his backpack, patting himself down for phone, keys, and wallet, and then left the house.

"You want one?" Stiles offered and Derek just looked at the waffle as if it offended him.

"What?" Stiles asked as he got into the passenger seat.

"Carbs for breakfast?" that got Stiles's eyes to widen in shock, and he almost dropped both waffles on the floor of the car as Derek pulled out of his driveway.

"You're kidding."

"Nope." Derek answered easily, but he still grabbed onto the one that Stiles took a bite out of and took one himself. Stiles just stared, horrified.

"Dude, I can't eat that now." Derek just shrugged and Stiles took a bite out of the one that wasn't soiled. At a red light, Derek would turn to Stiles and open his mouth waiting for Stiles to feed him. He did it, but every time he gave Derek the strangest look he could possibly manifest.

Both waffles were gone by the time they got to school, and once they got out of the car, Derek got tense, and it was strange but Stiles could sense it. Derek set his features to neutral and the easy-going wolf Stiles saw was gone. It kind of hurt to watch.

"Dude," Derek turned to Stiles and Stiles could see the look in Derek's eyes; he was scared. He was scared so bad and he didn't even know why. Stiles sighed and shut the passenger door, going over to Derek and grabbing him by the wrist to lead him into school. Some peoplewatched, some commented, and others just didn't care, but Derek wasn't opposing and Stiles didn't let go till they got their first period of U.S. History. He saw his seat was in front, luckily, but also right next to the radiating projector, which was also known as sleep central, but Derek was next to him and would hopefully keep him as awake as possible.

They pulled their binders out wordlessly and just waited in silence for the rest of the class and the teacher.

That's how it worked for the first quarter. Derek would pick Stiles up and drop him off, sometimes Stiles would do it instead, and every two week Stiles would go to the Hale's while Derek would go to Stiles's the week before. Midterms came and went. Derek was still tense at school and it was driving Stiles nearly insane. He liked the smiling Derek, neutral Derek was disturbingly cold and Derek avoided touching Stiles at school at all, while the minute they got outside of the premises Derek's arm was around his shoulder or waist. It felt secure for both of them, but Derek wasn't ready, not after what happened with Paige. It was a brutal and emotion packed night when Stiles basically forced Derek to explain to him why he acted like that at school.

"Stiles, I don't want to talk about it." Derek was on his bed, chin hooked over his pulled up knees and Stiles almost backed down at the look of sorrow Derek was sending him.

"Derek, look, I don't like it. I don't like the way that you're always scared when you go to school. I don't like the way that you flinch whenever anyone touches you at school. I don't like how you can't feel comfortable!" Stiles was pacing the room and he could hear Derek whining from his bed. It was an awful subject for him, and Stiles hated how he brought it up and wouldn't leave it the hell alone, but he needed Derek to understand that he wasn't alone.

Stiles crawled up onto Derek's bed and put his hands over Derek's. He was currently with his face in his knees and his hands over his ears, trying to block out Stiles as much as he could. The claws were out and Stiles could feel blood where Derek was poking himself to calm down. Derek was shaking and Stiles was way too informed with panic attacks to know that at least Derek wasn't having one, but he was crying and that could be worse.

"Derek, look at me." Derek didn't lift his head but he did let go of his ears and allowed Stiles to run him thumbs across his healing temples. Finally, Derek looked up with puffy, red eyes and nose. "Derek Andrew Hale," Derek gave him a long suffering look but continued to stare into Stiles's eyes, "you didn't do it. You did absolutely _nothing _ wrong. Two people maximum in that school blame you," Derek let out a whine but still kept his eyes locked on Stiles, " but they're wrong. You didn't ask for a rogue alpha to bite Paige, and from what I hear, you even found her and fought off the alpha." Derek blushed and that was a good sign to Stiles. "Yeah, you got hurt fighting for her. Those blue eyes," Derek looked up at Stiles and opened his mouth to defend himself, but Stiles put his hand over Derek's mouth, quieting him until he was done, "you got them by doing a selfless act." Stiles pulled his hand from Derek's mouth and set him with a stern look.

"Derek Hale, you are one of the kindest people I have ever met, and when you love someone you don't ever let them go in the blue about it." Stiles ran his hand on Derek's cheek, soothing the swollen, tear stained area. "You are such a good person that it kills me to see you hurting yourself every day for something you didn't do." Derek finally let out a calming breath and grabbed Stiles's hand and held it for a while.

They hadn't set a label on what they were. They weren't just friends but they were definitely each other's best friend. Sometimes, Stiles couldn't sleep if Derek wasn't there with him and it unnerved him more than anything had before. Stiles and Derek established something within the two months of knowing each other, and he definitely couldn't say that about the others in the boys's packs.

So, they were having a Pack Bonding Movie Night at the Hale's. Derek's parents were gone for the weekend, Cora was over at her own pack bonding thing, except for her it was bowling and other things that Derek and Stiles weren't paying attention to, and Laura was away at college. The "Movie Night" actually started at three in the afternoon on Saturday and was planned on going until Sunday at three so that they would spend a whole 24 hours together. Derek explained that that's usually what his cousins and siblings all did when they would come over for Christmas, because they hadn't seen each other in so long; it was a way of establishing pack and everyone besides Stiles and Derek were unhappy with the arrangement.

"Jackson get the hell away from me!"

"Look, Vernon-"

"_Boyd!" _

"Goddamn, Isaac! Would it kill you not to look like a kicked puppy all the time?!"

"I'll start after you, McCall!"

Stiles and Derek were standing and looking at the group that was approaching the Hale house. The guys exchanged a look and Derek slapped Stiles's shoulder before setting his expression to neutral, but he didn't leave his position next to Stiles or moved his hand from his shoulder. It was oddly calming to both of them.

"So, Stilinski, you sure this is gonna help?" Erica asked as she walked up in front of Stiles. Derek's grip on his shoulder tightened and Stiles subconsciously reached his hand out to Derek's ribs and squeezed.

"Yes, Erica, I'm pretty sure that this should work for the best." She just shrugged and proceeded to walk into the house where everyone else already was.

"This was such a bad idea." Derek said, still not taking his hand away from Stiles's shoulder. Stiles just squeezed his side again and Derek moved his hand from Stiles's shoulder to his neck, giving that a squeeze as well and moving into the house with Stiles still having his arm around Derek's middle.

"So, what's first on the list of movies?" Lydia asked from the loveseat that her and Jackson were sharing.

"Well, first, we have to make sure everyone knows where they're sitting." Everyone gave Stiles a strange look as he signaled for everyone to sit up. "Jackson, Lydia, and Erica will be sitting on one of the couches, while Scott, Allison, and Isaac sit on the other. Danny and Boyd, you guys can pick if you guys want the bean bag chairs or the really big loveseat." Derek nodded to everything Stiles said, but no one else looked as impressed. Erica and Isaac sat on the opposite end of their partners and started a conversation together while the others huddled against each other. Danny and Boyd chose the beanbag chairs so that Danny moved next to Jackson and Lydia and Boyd moved in between where Isaac and Erica were sitting.

"Ok, no." Derek basically yelled, and Stile saw him flash his wolf, resulting in everyone turning to see him standing in front of the television. "Since none of you guys can fucking cooperate, we are doing trust games and doing things outside for right now until you can all get along." Derek turned to the wolves in the room, and Stiles saw it, they looked guilty. "Didn't we agree on something? If you guys would have kept the agreement, things would have gone a lot smoother for you." Isaac, Boyd, and Erica just ducked their heads and Derek did his infamous eye roll.

Derek grabbed Stiles by the wrist and dragged him outside, expecting others to follow. When they did, Stiles was so shocked he started gawking; Derek's hand on his side got him out of it.

"Look, these are simple, every day, trust exercises. If you can fall easily into your partner's arms, then you trust them. If you stagger, or worse, drop the person that falls, then you need to resolve those issues right now. Stiles and I will demonstrate." Derek grabbed him by the shoulders and put Stiles in front of himself before whispering in his ear, "I promise I'll catch you."

It wasn't even necessary, not really. Stiles only trusted his dad as much as he trusted Derek and that's saying something compared to the fact that Scott has been his friend since they were born, but Stiles nodded and folded his arms across his chest. He felt Derek's presence behind him and he fell backwards with ease. He felt Derek wrap his arms around his chest and opened his eyes to see that he was upright and that he was hugged to Derek's chest tightly. He let his head fall back against Derek's shoulder and Derek scented him slightly before letting go.

"Like that." Stiles says, adjusting Scott in front of Isaac and telling him to fall. Isaac gives him an uneasy look and asks "I don't have to scent him, right?" Stiles just gave Isaac a sarcastic look and told Scott to fall, but it didn't go as nicely as Stiles's fall or Derek's catch. Isaac was fully prepared to catch Scott, but Scott staggered on his way down and as Isaac leaned forward to catch him, he tripped over a twig and fell face first into the dirt. Eyes flashing gold and his claws out, Isaac was ready to do damage, but Derek quickly took control and dragged him a few feet away, mumbling something incoherent to the rest besides the werewolves.

It took each group about 10 tries for each person to fall comfortably into the other's arms, and when the weres complained that Derek didn't fall into Stiles, Derek just fell without any warning and, luckily, Stiles was able to successfully catch him, but Derek got a hard punch in the shoulder for it. He just shrugged and said that he knew that Stiles would catch him. What an asshole.

"Well, that was riveting, but I do not feel like putting up with you guys complaining about seating arrangements, so we're going to sit where we want and watch The Lion King without the slightest hint of an objection." Everybody just nodded at Stiles and took positions where they wanted. It was four thirty and nobody was hungry yet, so everyone settled in while Derek piled up blankets and pillows near the TV if anyone wanted them. Nobody had claimed one of the couches, so Stiles grabbed a pillow and a blanket and set down on the end while putting the pillow on the other. Once everyone was settled, Derek came and leaned against the pillow while Stiles re-positioned himself to be leaning against Derek. Stiles knew everyone was staring and he could literally care less, because when Derek was openly wrapping his arms around Stiles's middle to keep him secure, and was running his nose along the back of his neck, all Stiles could feel was pried: Derek was finally loosening up.

Stiles fell asleep around "I Just Can't Wait to be King" and woke up to see the screen black and the whole living room was yelling about something that he couldn't comprehend. Derek was still behind him, and his hold moved up to Stiles's chest in order to let him slump down when he slept, but to still keep proximity. Stiles turned in Derek's arms and squinted at him before nodding towards the group of over-aggressive teenagers.

"They're arguing about a movie. I have no say." Derek rolled his eyes and just ducked his face back down into Stiles's neck, breathing slowly and tickling the fuck out of him. Stiles started to squirm in Derek's hold and that was probably the worst decision he has ever made.

"Are you ticklish?" Derek asked with a very mischievous smile in place. Stiles was shaking his head frantically but it was too late, Derek started to blow onto his neck and his fingers worked under Stiles's arm pits. The laugh that burst out of him got everyone's attention and eight sets of eyes stared at the pair. The people staring at them didn't stop Derek from going under Stiles's shirt and start tickling him there as well.

"Oh my god, Derek! Cold hands! Cold! Stop!" Derek was laughing so hard that he was crying and after he finally gave in and let Stiles breathe, it seemed like Derek was laughing harder than Stiles.

"You are evil, Hale." Stiles said, but slumped back down into Derek and tucked his head under Derek's chin.

"Yeah, yeah." Derek ran a hand up Stiles's back and Stiles was almost asleep when he heard the opening credits to Captain America.

"No! Now I can't sleep!" Stiles turned over and laid onto his other side, keeping his head on Derek's chest and staring at the screen containing Chris Evans and all his glory.

"You got a thing for patriotic blonds?" Derek asked, running a hand through Stiles's hair.

"Totally." Stiles said in all seriousness and Derek rumbled with silent laughter under him. Derek continued to run his hand through Stiles's hair through the majority of the movie, until he moved and started rubbing Stiles's back. It started to unnerve him that Derek couldn't keep his hands still: Derek was usually calm and always kept his hands to himself, but now he can't seem to leave them be.

Stiles grabbed a hold of Derek's hands and brought them around his chest, holding them in place with his hands and running him thumb against Derek's knuckles. Stiles looked over and saw that Danny and Boyd were talking softly and that Isaac, Scott, and Allison found a common topic about Latin and foreign languages. Lydia and Erica were comparing makeup tips while Jackson put in his guy perspective.

Maybe Stiles and Derek were contagious? Whatever it was, they all ordered different large pizzas and pigged out on them, and Derek made a midnight run for pretzels, chocolate, and ice cream that everyone indulged in and Jackson wouldn't quit complaining about how he probably put on five pounds by the end of the night. This time, everyone rolled their eyes at him, but Erica assured him that he was fine. They all fell asleep at around 3 in the morning; Derek and Stiles stayed in the position they had been for the entire time, Jackson and Lydia shared a couch, Scott and Allison shared one of the three mattresses on the floor, Erica, Boyd, and Isaac all shared another mattress, and Danny curled up in the love seat.

They all woke up at around eleven and no one wanted to get up until noon to eat left over cold pizza and watch the first Harry Potter movie.

So, Pack Bonding Movie Night was a total success and Derek totally owed Stiles curly fries for his awesome idea.

Second quarter came and went with the end of the first semester. The principal announced that they're keeping the program for at least until the end of the school year, and Derek and Stiles's new pack were totally ok with it. Everyone was starting to get along more; the only issues were the normal things like stupid arguments over what the best book is or what to do for a project. There was basically no more loathing and it was awesome.

Winter Break also came and went with Derek's family leaving Beacon Hills in favor of going to New York to see Derek's grandparents, uncle, aunt, and cousins. Stiles stayed with his dad and had a Stilinski Christmas with the Chinese food in full swing, but when Derek came back December 31 with a present and a request to stay over for New Years, Stiles couldn't say no.

When Stiles opened the president, he didn't expect it, not really, but then again he did see it coming: Derek gave him the Hale pendent: a triskelion symbol hung on a leather rope. Stiles saw all the kids had one and Derek explained that they got them when they were born as a sign of pack.

"All the weres are giving you guys something as an offering of bringing you guys into our pack. I want you to have the pendent." Stiles gives Derek a sincere smile before pulling it over his head and tucking it into his sweater.

Stiles put his hand over the lump of the pendent and says, "I'll wear it as long as I'm in your pack." Derek just smiles and tries to go in for a hug, but Stiles moves quickly and grabs a box out from under his bed.

"Here, open this first, though." Stiles turns the box and takes the card off before giving Derek the actual present. Derek opens the envelope and reveals a picture of the two of them that Lydia had snuck in at the pack movie night. It was when Derek was tickling Stiles and Stiles had his face hidden in Derek's shoulder while Derek had his face in Stiles's hair, but you can see both boys smiling.

"Put it up on that cork board you have in your room." Derek just nods and puts the picture back in the envelope before making grabby hands at the box in front of him. Stiles rolls his eyes but gave it to him, and Derek opened it to see Giants tickets sitting in the box.

Derek gives Stiles a pained look and blurts out, "that's not fair! You give me like the best gifts in the world and I give you some crappy necklace!" Stiles just sets Derek with a look and takes the box away from him, showing him that he got two tickets.

"We'll go together, so it's like I gave myself a present too. Also, I don't think the necklace is crappy; I think it's very nice and I really like it." Derek still wasn't sure, so Stiles just grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him out of the house to go to the ice rink where Boyd worked. They got in when no one was around and skated until Stiles was too cold to feel his own feet. They watched the ball drop and both called their parents to congratulate them on New Year's.

"Why did your parents let you come back for New Years?" Stiles had been wondering all day, but it finally came up as they were about to go to sleep.

"I told them that I had to be with pack." It was a simple answer and Stiles saw Derek shrug in the darkness before shoving his face into Stiles's hair and smelling him for all he's worth. It was strangely comforting, and Stiles couldn't describe the feeling even if he tried.

They woke up and had a day left before the third quarter began. They spent the day with the rest of the pack and they all had a sleep over in mourning of their break.

It was January 25th and Stiles got a strange call from one Laura Hale.

"_You do know it's Derek's birthday on the 30th, right?" _

"He told me nothing. "

_"He's never liked his birthday, but he'll be seventeen this year, so you gotta do something."_

"Isn't seventeen the year of nothing, though?"

Laura sighed on the other end of the phone, and she sounded so much like Derek it almost had Stiles laughing. _"Look, just do something for him, please. Mom and dad never do anything for him, and I know that he wants something." _

Stiles promised Laura to think of something and he finally came up with a picnic in the park. It was kind of lame, but he told everyone to not tell Derek and to just be there at 12:30 pm on January 30, which was luckily enough to be on a Saturday.

The only problem was getting Derek.

Stiles came to Derek's house at nine in the morning, throwing rocks against Derek's patio door until he came out. Derek finally came out with sweat pants on and nothing else looking like he had just rolled out of bed.

"Stiles, what the hell are you doing? You don't wake people up before twelve on a Saturday." Derek sat on the edge of the patio and was looking down at Stiles with sleep bleary eyes.

"Ah, but today isn't any other Saturday now is it?" Derek just rolled his eyes and went back to his room, but he came down to open the door for Stiles about a minute later and let him in. He accepted the hug and kiss on the cheek for his birthday, but didn't want the present at all.

"What is there to celebrate, Stiles?"

"Your birthday, Derek!"

"Then you should have been there seventeen years ago."

"Sorry, missed it due to me still being a developing fetus and all that." Derek just rolled his eyes and walked to the kitchen, grabbing two mugs and making the two of them coffee.

"Why don't you like your birthday?" Stiles asked, sitting up onto the kitchen counter and swinging his feet aimlessly. Stiles grabbed onto Derek's biceps and steered him in front of Stiles. Derek just wrapped his arms around Stiles's neck and tucked his face into his neck. Derek shrugged to the question and even when the coffee machine beeped in alarm that it was ready, neither boy let go of each other, and not even when Derek's parents came in was it enough to have Derek let go, because he didn't like his birthday, but Stiles was making it just that little bit better.

At around ten, Stiles finally got Derek to let go and go take a shower. That left Stiles with Talia and James who just gave him a thankful smile and offered him some late breakfast.

"Do you guys know why he doesn't like his birthday?" Talia and James both shared a look with each other before looking back to Stiles and Talia sighed.

"My mother, the old alpha, she had the same birthday as Derek. He doesn't like to celebrate his birthday because we can't celebrate her's anymore." Stiles let that sink in and he just nodded knowing what he had to do to make sure Derek didn't have an anxiety attack, something that tended to happen from time to time. Stiles has only encountered it a few times, but each time rips a little bit out of his heart.

So, instead of a birthday cake with candles and singing, it was just going to be a picnic at the park with some baseball: it was something Derek would enjoy. So, Stiles called the bakery he ordered Derek's cake from and asked them if they had written the "Happy Birthday, Derek!" on it yet, and after they, thankfully, didn't write on it, Stiles told them to leave the cake as is.

Derek came down forty-five minutes later, hair still damp and wearing a pair of cargo shorts and a t-shirt. Stiles pulled up the chair next to himself with some toast and eggs that Talia made right after Derek got out of the shower.

"So, what do you think about having a picnic and some baseball today with the pack?" Stiles asked, careful of how Derek would react. Derek just shrugged but he squeezed Stiles's side in confirmation and Stiles nodded before moving towards Derek so that he wrapped his arm around his waist.

By the end of Derek's breakfast, Stiles was basically on top of Derek's lap and Derek had wrapped Stiles up again like how he had when Stiles was on the kitchen counter. He couldn't imagine how having his birthday was like a reminder of something awful.

Stiles's legs were wrapped around Derek's waist and Derek had his head against Stiles's chest, listening to the even beat of Stiles's heart in order to just lose himself in the slow beat of it. Stiles was running his hands up and down Derek's spine and would push against a knot he would find as he rubbed up and down or circles into Derek's back.

"Hey, Der?"

"Hmm?"

"What do you say about going out right now? Go get some food for the picnic even though the others are bringing most of the things?" Derek just shrugged again but he released his death grip on Stiles's middle and let Stiles get up before he wrapped an arm around Stiles's waist and gripped onto his side. They pulled on jackets quickly, Derek not wanting to lose the comfort he was feeling, and winding his arm around Stiles's waist again until he slips his hand into Stiles's hoodie pocket.

Stiles drives them to the store and Derek stays close. They get stuff to make sandwiches of peoples choosing and get things to make smores. It pained Stiles to see Derek in so much self-loathing over absolutely nothing, and Stiles knew that Derek could sense his pain, and that it was making things worse, but fuck it was hard to stay happy all the time.

They finally got to the park and everyone was already there. The guys were trying to figure out the grill while the girls stood around laughing at their idiot boyfriends; Stiles smiled slightly at the normalcy it all brought. He grabbed onto Derek's wrist again, but Derek slipped his hand into Stiles's and intertwined their fingers. Stiles looked up to see Derek staring at his sneakers, and Stiles squeezed his hand slightly and rubbed soothing circles into his hand with his thumb.

"Hey, guys!" Stiles yelled as they approached the group. No one commented on the hand holding just like no one ever commented on Stiles's and Derek's relationship, because they were pretty much totally awesome friends. Stiles placed the paper bags on the bench and he and Derek started putting out plates and the hot dogs to be cooked.

"Lydia?" Stiles asked.

"Yes?"

"Why aren't you helping the boys with the grill?" Lydia gave Stiles a smirk and just nodded her head towards the group of boys that wouldn't accept her help.

"Because they don't want it." Stiles just shook his head and signaled for her to go in and save the struggling morons. She rolled her eyes but compelled all the same.

Stiles was just about done setting up the table when he felt someone wrap behind his back. He pushed his head into Derek's shoulder and it felt like Derek was in so much pain that Stiles regretted ever getting him to do this.

"Do you want to go home?" Stiles whispered into Derek's neck and Derek just shook his head, but he didn't let go of Stiles. Lydia finally got the grill working and they were eating within half an hour, Stiles sitting with one of his legs draped across Derek's and Derek's left hand wrapped tightly around his middle. No one questioned it and it just made the afternoon easier.

They didn't play baseball: Derek wasn't up for it, but they did make smores and it took Stiles shoving the gooey mess that he made into Derek's mouth for the boy to finally eat one. Something about carbs and sugar. Derek retaliated later by taking a gooey marshmallow and smearing it across Stiles's cheek. It made Stiles smile because Derek was smiling, a full toothy, fangy smile that he only got when he knows he did something that he'll be getting payback for. Stiles just took the marshmallow and took it off his cheek, but his cheeks was still sticky with fluff that wouldn't come off.

Before Stiles could protest, he saw the smirk Derek was sporting and in a second Derek was kissing his cheek and getting the marshmallow off him.

"Are we even now?" Stiles shook his head, and Derek was about to say something before Stiles grabbed onto the front of Derek's shirt and just kissed him, because he was sick and tired of pretending that they weren't something when they totally were.

It was a sticky, sweet, and short kiss, but a kiss nonetheless. Stiles didn't let go of Derek, but instead wrapped his arms around Derek's chest and kissed his neck a few times. Derek hands came up and were running up Stiles's back and neck, kissing the top of his head and temple.

"You guys are sickengly sweet!" Jackson complained.

"Took you guy's long enough." both Isaac and Scott complained while the girls cooed and Danny and Boyd just gave them reassuring smiles. It felt nice and annoying all at the same time' it felt like pack.

Derek was still just rubbing his neck and kissing all over his face; Stiles couldn't help but smile: Derek felt a lot calmer. Stiles knew this was just a distraction, but it got Derek through the rest of the small party.

"So, why now?" Derek asked once they were on their way back to the Hale house. Stiles had one hand on the wheel and the other holding Derek's between them, and Stiles squeezed his fingers before explaining.

"I mean, we've just always been like this." Stiles said, waving their conjoined hands before settling them again. "Just, today, you were a lot more touchy than usual, and so it just got me thinking about how much you've changed since we've met. Nothing bad, I swear." Stiles added quickly as he pulled into the Hale territory. He put the car in park and turned to Derek, "you wanna go to the back of the jeep? I have blankets and we can talk before going inside?" Derek nodded and they both got out, Derek jumping up into the back and Stiles grabbing a few of the blankets he packed in the morning, hoping for star-gazing or something.

He laid the heavy blanket that his mother would have him wrapped up in whenever it got too cold and nothing was helping, and then Derek lied down, waiting for Stiles to come and lie with him. Stiles lied down and put his head on Derek's chest and the two of them conjoined their hands and rested them against Stiles's chest. They had a lighter blanket around their feet and just stayed calm for a few minutes until Derek spoke up.

"So, I know my mom told you why I have a hard time with my birthday." Stiles nodded and squeezed Derek's hand. Derek squeezed back, and continued, "She's right; I don't like celebrating mine when Nana can't celebrate her's, but my mom didn't tell you that today was the anniversary of Paige's death." Stiles stopped breathing for a split second before he was on top of Derek, Stiles's legs on either side of Derek's hips and pulling Derek into his arms.

"I forgot. I wasn't close with her and I didn't even remember." Stiles started to ramble and Derek just shooshed him silently, which was strange because shouldn't Stiles be doing the comforting?

"I didn't expect you to remember, Stiles. That's why this specific year was harder than others. Others would be like a dull ache, and so will this memory in a few years, which I know, but for right now it's a fresh wound." Stiles let a whine escape from the back of his throat; it was something he had picked up from Derek a few months ago, and Derek just smiled a little when the noise escaped him.

They stayed like that for a while till Derek spoke up again, "thank you, by the way." Derek goes ahead and kisses the top of Stiles's head and keeps his nose on Stiles's hairline.

"For what?" Stiles asked sleepily and Derek looked down to see Stiles almost asleep against Derek.

"For being first. For being there for me. For not freaking out when you were partnered with me. For being you." and something snapped in Stiles. He let a tear run down his cheek and he just burrowed himself closer to Derek in an attempt of telling him that he was grateful too.

"Derek! Stiles! Boys, it's getting too cold to be out here. Come inside!" James was calling them in and Stiles just really didn't want to get up from where he was, but Derek took that matter and didn't make it a problem anymore: in one swoop Stiles was in Derek's arms and being carried into the house.

"No, Derek, I can walk." Stiles tried wriggling out, but Derek just tightened his hold and Stiles slumped against him as if that was his only life source.

They were set in the living room and Derek and Stiles were set the same way they were for the movie night; Stiles was laying between Derek's legs, back against Derek's chest with Derek's arms wrapped tightly around him. Derek got his gifts from his family and Stiles was to spend the night with Derek.

That was probably the weirdest thing about how the year turned out; his father never questioned when he stayed at the Hales or when Derek would stay with him. Stiles knows that Talia spoke to his father, but he wasn't sure what she told him to get him to agree to the way things were going.

Stiles couldn't pay much attention to it anyways: Derek was standing in his sweats and no shirt, and Stiles could stare now. It was kind of fulfilling.

"Stop staring." Derek complained and turned to look Stiles in the eye. Stiles just shrugged and made grabby hands for Derek to go to bed already. Once Derek finally finished setting up something on his phone he came over and Stiles pulled him down so that they were lying facing each other.

"I like you." Stiles said simply and he could hear Derek chuckling under him.

"Yeah, I like you too."

"Hmm, good, 'cause I'm not giving you up." Derek shifted a little and pressed a slow kiss to Stiles's lips before pulling away and pressing butterfly kisses to Stiles's upper back.

"Don't worry. I don't plan on going anywhere." Stiles fell asleep to the feeling of Derek pressing the kisses between his shoulder blades, but he was able to mumble one last "happy birthday" before falling into a blissful sleep.

The third quarter sort of blended into the fourth. The teachers all started assigning similar, werewolf related, projects. Their biology teacher wanted a presentation of how the werewolf anatomy was different than that of a human's. Their history teacher wanted a detailed report on the mythological history of werewolves, their English teacher wanted a narrative from all the humans on what they think it would be like to be a werewolf and want a narrative from the weres on what they think it's like to be a human, and even the math teacher wanted mathematical calculations, formulas, and graphs of the distance of seeing, smelling, and hearing of a werewolf. Stiles was put off but Derek was totally elated.

"So, for the bio presentation, I thought we could have me stand up in front as you describe the difference and I could be like the presenter. Then, for history, my parents can help us with the reports, and math should be easy cause we just need to be really accurate about it, and for English I totally need help cause I have no clue what it's like being human."

"Derek, Derek, breathe." Stiles pressed a hand against Derek's chest and slowly got Derek to calm down. Derek took Stiles's hand and pressed a kiss to his palm before intertwining their fingers.

"I think your ideas are good." Stiles started and he started to feel Derek's anxiety again, "we are definitely doing that for biology. We can get a dog whistle and everything and we can have you fanged and clawed out. We can even have you in your beta form and try to describe why your eyebrows go bye bye when you're wolfed." Derek just gave Stiles a nervous chuckle, and Stiles grabbed their twined hands and pressed a kiss to Derek's knuckles.

"I will help you with your English paper, we will ask to sit down with your parents for history and ask them their side, while we can ask my dad and find out the human side, and, yes, for pre-calc it shouldn't be too difficult to figure out how far away you can hear a pin drop to the floor if you focus. Ok? So, please, stop being so anxious." Stiles pulled down on Derek's hand until Derek leaned forward and they shared a kiss in the empty hallway.

"You know what I just realized?" Derek asked as he and Stiles walked, hand in hand, out the door of the school.

"What?"

"You don't wear your beanies as much anymore and you wear contacts." Stiles just rolled his eyes, but Derek pressed a kiss to his temple that got him to give a weak smile.

"I don't know. I forgot to wear one or bring a beanie at all to the movie thing and you seemed to enjoy playing with my hair, so I just kind of leave it as it is, maybe run my hand through it a few times." Stiles just shrugged and ducked his head looking at his shoes.

Derek lifted Stiles's chin back up to look him in the eyes before stating, "I like you with a beanie and without. I like you with glasses and without. Hoodie or no hoodie. The only thing that would drive me crazy is if your moles and freckles all just disappeared: I love tracing them." Stiles couldn't help but laugh as Derek started tracing the freckles on his neck.

"Yeah, well, I like you too. With or without muscles. With or without your cute bunny teeth." that got Stiles an eye roll, "with or without _your glasses_." Derek just gave Stiles a soft smiled and kissed him sweetly against his camaro. Stiles wanted nothing but to get lost in Derek, but they had a lot of work to do with these projects due in only two weeks.

Derek and Stiles worked every day for the past two weeks, and they actually worked. They got their math done the first day they got the assignment, and handed it in the next day to get feedback. The A they received was enough feedback they needed to know that one subject was done and that they should just do the narrative then, but Derek was struggling, big.

"What do you see when you think of human?" Stiles asked on Wednesday when working with Derek and his essay. Stiles handed his in that day and hopefully Derek will be done with it by tonight.

"You."

"As cute as that is, I need you not to think of me." Stiles answers, but, wait, what if that's exactly what Derek needs to be thinking of? Stiles can hear Derek tell him that he's been trying that for more than a day, and that it wasn't helping.

"Derek, what do you see in me?" Stiles asks suddenly, cutting off Derek's rambling.

"What do you mean? I see everything in you. Your smarts, your athleticism, your caring, your compassion, your social skills, I mean, I don't know! I just see you."

"Exactly!" Stiles practically yelled it and Stiles quickly covered Derek's ears with his own hands. Derek gave him a pained look and Stiles recovered instantly. "Sorry, it's just, you don't have to write about how your senses are weakened or how you would feel less powerful, you can write about how you see other humans and how they adapt and how you would hope to act like them, if you want." Stiles adds quickly at the end, but Derek is already scrawling an outline on a scrap sheet of paper. Once he's done, he grabs Stiles by either side of his face and slams their lips together, hard. They separate once they both need to come up for air and Derek continues to kiss him softly all around his face.

"Thank you." a kiss to his forehead, "thank you." a kiss to his nose, "thank you." a kiss to his neck, "thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you." Derek peppered Stiles's face with kisses before giving one last kiss to the top of his head and going to sit as his desk to start writing his paper. Stiles just sat on the floor for a few minutes until he just started making notes on how to present their biology project.

Forty minutes later, Derek was done with his essay and refusing to let Stiles read it. "I helped you figure it out!" Stiles was full out whining like a petulant child but he didn't care because it was not fair. Derek just laughed into Stiles's neck and grabbed him by the middle to drag him down to their history session with James. When Stiles wouldn't stop struggling, Derek just threw him over his shoulder in a fireman's carry and, yeah, that was not comfortable.

Finally he was slammed into the couch, but before he could dart back up the stairs, Derek pinned him to the couch and had Stiles sit on his lap while James explained how werewolves were the second most wanted next to the Jews during the Black Plague because they couldn't get sick.

Once they were done with their history lesson, Stiles stalked up the stairs with Derek following closely behind him. Stiles didn't even _want _that stupid essay anymore. He sat on Derek's bed and started fumbling with the necklace Derek gave him for Christmas, and when Stiles looked up, Derek was giving him a strange, pained look.

"I'm sorry." he said. He carefully moved to kneel in front of Stiles, putting his hands on Stiles's knees and squeezing them to try to get Stiles to understand.

"Will you ever let me read it?" Derek nodded, biting his lip and looking uncertain as hell.

"Yeah, yeah, after Mr. P grades it." Derek's shoulders slump down a little and he finally mumbles, "I'm scared of what you'll think." Stiles just rolls his eyes and plants a kiss to the top of Derek's head before he pulls off Derek's shirt and demands that they cuddle and call it an early night. Derek just blinks and shucks off his t-shirt. Stiles does the same to his own while Derek turns on Stiles's favorite playlist that Derek plays whenever either of them are anxious or nervous.

Derek slips in behind Stiles but this time Stiles turns and has Derek do the same so that he can throw an arm over Derek's waist and kiss away the tension and anxiousness in Derek's shoulders. They fall asleep like that and when they wake up its hard to want to get out of bed, but they get up and take turns showering before having to rush to school. Before they left, Talia told them that they had to talk tonight and the two of them nodded before rushing out the door and to school.

Stiles got his essay back and received a good enough mark that he wasn't re-writing it, and Derek handed his in. The rest of the day went by without a bang: most kids were all whispering together about their presentations and projects that nothing big or exciting was happening, but the minute Derek and Stiles stepped through the Hale house, Stiles's heart almost stopped.

"Dad, what's wrong?" This is the first time Stiles sees his father at the Hale house, but his dad just gives him a smile and tells him and Derek to sit down.

"It's come to my and Talia's attention that you've been spending a lot of time together." Derek and Stiles both nodded to their parents, and Derek hooked an arm around Stiles's waist. Talia looked at the arm but the Sheriff ignored it in favor of looking at his son intently.

"Stiles do you-"

"Look, dad, I know we're young and that this is going to fast, and all that, but I really like Derek, I-"

"Stiles, let me finish." Stiles shut his mouth and sat back down, he didn't even remember standing up, and leaned his head against Derek's shoulder, prepared for the worst.

"Do you know what a mate is?" Stiles and Derek both snapped to the Sheriff and Stiles could see that the he was cool and collected.

"Um, yeah, I do. It's like a bond that two werewolves have for life. Like once you find your mate, you're done." Talia and his dad both nodded, but Talia smiled a little strangely.

"It doesn't only have to be between two werewolves, Stiles. It can be by a human and a werewolf as well, but usually only the werewolf senses it in the beginning." Talia sent Derek a look and Stiles was starting to feel nauseous. Derek gave Stiles a look and before Stiles could say anything, Derek had him and towards the bathroom within seconds, and that's where whatever he had consumed for lunch was now being flushed into the sewage system. Derek helped him clean up and got him water before they went back to the living room.

"So, you're saying you think we're mates." Derek asked slowly, and, wow, Derek was handling this better than Stiles.

"Not _think, _son." the sheriff said, and then it all started to click on why Stiles just felt so comfortable with Derek, why his dad let him be near Derek, but they knew and didn't tell them.

"Why didn't you tell us earlier?" Talia just shook her head and looked Derek in the eyes.

"We didn't think you were ready, but your father and I saw you two this morning, and we knew that we had to tell you two." Derek nodded and Stile sank into Derek, his mate, he shuffled his face into his chest and inhaled the calming scent. Derek's hands were rubbing up and down his spine, but luckily he wasn't nauseous anymore, just overwhelmed and tired.

"We're going to . . . ." Derek cut it there, nodding towards the stairs and when both parents nodded, he lifted Stiles and walked to his room, still rubbing Stiles's back with one and the other massaging the back of his head.

Once they got to his room, Derek laid Stiles down on the bed and laid down right away next to him. Derek rubbed at Stiles's stomach instead of back, and both were extremely soothing and calming. Stiles is starting to think it's a "Derek" thing, not a "massage" thing. Derek started to kiss Stiles's face and when he got to the lips, Stiles hooked his arms around Derek's neck and pulled him down to have their bodies flushed against each other. Derek was scenting him and Stiles let him, because he was Derek's mate.

"Is it weird if I say that I kind of thought that I knew we were mates?" Derek asks later in the evening. Cora brought them up dinner and they ate in Derek's room, feeding each other off of their forks and failing at being romantics.

"No. I kind of knew there was something beyond just us. There had to be something." Derek nodded and continued to scent Stiles. That's all they did that night was cuddle. No biology, no history, just scenting and kissing and cuddling, because it's what felt like the right thing to do.

Scott, Allison, and Isaac just presented a PowerPoint for their biology project, and Stiles and Derek were the last ones up to present. Surprisingly, nobody thought of presenting an actual werewolf to the class. That was Stiles and Derek always the odd ones. Stiles came up with notes cards and a few other tricks while Derek stood next to him.

"Now, there are some basic anatomical differences between humans and werewolves. For one, they're able to produce fangs and claws on command." Derek let his claws and fangs out as everyone started to get interested. "This is their half-shift, and then there's a full beta shift." Derek turned full beta and, yup, there goes his eyebrows. "If you didn't notice, Derek doesn't have his eyebrows in full beta. It's nothing special actually it's genetically like that. His father doesn't have them when he shift either, but his sisters and mother do.

"The werewolf can see better, hear better, and run faster. They are stronger and stealthier. The can smell things better; however, these are all very surface area explanations of a deeper thing. Weres, like dogs, can see farther, but their color isn't as good as that of a human's." Everyone started nodding and then Stiles held up a swatch cloths that Derek has never seen. "Derek has never seen these fabrics, and tell me, Derek, what color is this one? He pointed to the orange color and Derek squinted before stating, "It's brown." Stiles smiled and said, "Its neon orange." before moving along.

"Yes, the werewolf can hear better, but that makes their ears more sensitive to things that humans aren't. If I were to blow a dog whistles right now, no human would have a problem, but it could cause temporary deafness to the werewolves." The class stared in awe as Stiles whistled into Derek's ear and he flinched before pushing Stiles away.

"They can run faster but that means that their bones are weaker; however, they can heal and take away your pain." Stiles had Derek hold up a finger and he broke it right there in the classroom. Everyone started to get out of their seats, but Derek just held up his hand for them to stop and showed that he was healed, and that he was out of a beta shift.

"Pain makes you human." is the only explanation Derek gave and everyone accepted it.

"The stronger and stealthier ones don't have much of a downfall, but the smelling things does. You can track things, sure, but if someone has an underlining of sweat, for a werewolf it smells as if that person was shoving their sweat at your nose." Stiles took the garbage can put it under Derek's nose, a second later, Derek was dry heaving from the stench until Stiles shoved one of his shirts into his nose and let him hold onto that sent.

"They can also smell emotions. Fear, anxiety, happiness, excitement, it's all there radiating off of us. Hey, Der, how does Greenberg smell over there?" Stiles asks, pointing to one of the sophmores in the room. Derek smelled the air and wrinkled his nose.

"He smells like he's about to piss himself. Am I that scary?" Everyone started laughing and Derek gave one of his fang filled smiles.

"That is all we have for you today. Thank you." Stiles says as he and Derek start to head back to their lab table. Once sitting back down, Derek grabs onto Stiles's hand and leans his head into Stiles's neck, smelling his mate.

"You did well." Stiles mumbles as he presses a kiss to Derek's temple after class. Derek just shrugs and holds Stiles close to him as he hums something under his breath.

"Mmmm, what are you humming?" Stiles asked, keeping his eyes closed in the empty hallway. They were both late to class but he couldn't care less at that moment.

"I love you." was all Derek said, but it's all Stiles actually needed at that moment.

Pressing a sweet kiss to Derek's lips, Stiles leans back and say, "I love you too." It wasn't exactly how either of them thought it would happen; neither of them thought it would happen in the empty hallways of their high school, but oh well, they both meant it.

"He seriously hasn't asked you, yet?" Lydia asked him for the fifth time that day.

"Yes, he seriously hasn't asked me to the prom yet." Stiles mumbled as he did his combination to his locker. Derek had ditched last period and it was getting Stiles worried, more worried than usual. He opted out of contacts for the day and his glasses kept falling down his nose, and he really just wanted to see Derek and to just ask him to the prom if the big bad wolf wasn't going to do it himself.

Stiles expected something to pop out every time he opened his locker, but nothing was coming out, and it was disappointing. However, when he pulled out his mythology textbook, a little note flew out.

"Maybe this is a clue?" Stiles asks to no one in particular and he sees it in Derek's neat capital hand writing: "GO TO THE PLACE WHERE WE FIRST STARTED." It took Stiles a minute to remember that he meant their lunch room in the cafeteria. Opting out of going to mythology, Stiles darted to the cafeteria and found another note: "WHERE WAS MY FIRST JOKE?" The biology classroom.

Stiles darted to the lab and their teacher handed him a note and this time it had a little plush wolf attached to it. He read it out loud to both him and the little wolf: "PICTURE PERFECT MEMORY." The photo Stiles had given Derek on Christmas, but wasn't that on his cork board? Stiles looked up and saw Isaac pointing down the hallways and started running towards Derek's locker. On the locker was another note: "FLIP THE WOLF TO FIND YOUR CLUE." Stiles flipped the toy and saw another piece of paper with Derek's combination.

Once Stiles opened the locker, he discovered rose and another note: "SPEND MANY HOURS GOING FROM HOME TO HOME." The camaro. Stiles ran outside with his wolf in one hand and the roses in the other, wondering if Derek had bribed the faculty into letting him skip class to do this. Once at the car, Stiles found another note attached to the windshield: "ROSES ARE RED, WOLVES ARE GRAY. WHERE DO WE GO, TO KISS EVERY DAY?" Stiles starts running back to his locker, and he's winded by the time he's there, he sees a balloon, just a plain balloon with nothing written on it. Once he opens his locker, a few more balloons pop out with a note on his locker door saying "POP THE RAINBOW" so Stiles pops the red balloon: "WILL", orange: "YOU", yellow: "GO", green: "TO", blue: "PROM", violet: "WITH", indigo: "ME?" When Stiles looks up from his notes on the hallway floor, he see Derek there, dressed in a dark blue button down and black jeans. He was holding tickets and hand out to Stiles. Stiles took his hand and nodded mutely. Derek grinned, a big toothy grin and slammed their lips together. He even lifted Stiles up off the floor a little.

"Why did I have to do a scavenger hunt?" Stiles asked after they broke apart from each other, but Derek still keeping his hands at Stiles's waist.

"Because nothing is ever easy with us." Stiles just shrugged and drop down to place the roses and poem in the locker, but keeps the little gray and white wolf to his chest. Derek just grins and cups Stiles's cheek.

"You like the wolf?" Stiles nods and kisses Derek's nose and proceeds to Eskimo kiss, because he feels like being cute.

"Well, it's your wolf." Derek says easily.

"No," Derek gives Stiles a strange look before Stiles elaborates, "_you're _my wolf." Derek grins again and kisses the top of Stiles's head. They pick up the scraps of balloons and put all the notes in a plastic bag as a souvenir.

"So I guess next year it'll be my turn to ask you?" Stiles asks Derek later that night as they lay in Stiles's bed that night; Derek wrapped behind Stiles and Stiles clutching the plush wolf to his chest.

"That would be nice." Stiles just nods and they both drift off into sleep.

Now that Stiles was officially asked to prom, he has to actually get a tux and a flower for Derek's lapel, a boutonniere, Stiles remembers Lydia calling it, but he could care less as long as Derek is happy.

They both agree to wearing black and white suits and surprising the other with the tie or bow-tie that they plan on wearing. Stiles somehow got dragged in with the girls while Derek was off with the guys. It was annoying as hell, but apparently the guys are worse, because Isaac and Scott couldn't give two-shits about what kind of suit they get, but Jackson only wanted designer, and Boyd never speaks up, and so Derek was caught between a rock and several hard places.

Derek came home with shopping bags, though, so they both got what they needed besides the flower lapel thing and both were totally fine with just agreeing that everything would be fine even if our tuxes got ruined or our lapel flowers came out badly.

They actually made a contract, sort of. They sat across from each other in their boxer-briefs and t-shirts on the bed and agreed not to make a big deal out of prom, and then they kissed on it, so there it was done.

Although, on the day of, both boys were radiating anxiety, and neither was making the other very calm about any of it. Stiles went home to get ready and Derek promised to pick him up at 7:30 so that they could go back to the Hale's and take pictures with Cora for the Junior and Sophmore prom, because the seniors got to keep their own. Stiles's biggest focus was actually his hair, because it was 7:25 and everything was ready except for his hair. He tried to get it to look nice, but he couldn't manage it. He almost threw his comb at his mirror if Derek didn't come into his room that minute looking remarkable.

"Stiles, comb down." Stiles sighed and put the comb down. He slacked back into Derek and didn't care what he was ruining because Derek helped calm him down. Derek ran his fingers through Stiles's hair a few times and planted a kiss to the crown of his head before telling him that he looked amazing. Stiles couldn't keep the blush from creeping up, and usually he's really god at controlling it.

"Derek, you do realize you look like a model, right?" Derek just rolled his eyes and kissed Stiles slightly one the neck, leaving no more but a sensation in it's place.

"Come on, your dad probably wants to take pictures." Derek laces their fingers together and they go down the stairs to see John sitting on the couch with his camera, ready to take pictures.

"Hey, Sheriff." Derek greets and John rolls his eyes, because no matter how many times he's tried, the kid won't stop calling him Sheriff.

"Derek, you look nice." Then the Sheriff turns to Stiles and his smile softens. "Well, kiddo, you can clean up, huh?" Stiles rolls his eyes, but let's his dad hug him anyways and take individual pictures of him as Derek stand of to the side, smiling softly.

"Come on, Derek. I want to remember that I actually had a date to the prom." Derek rolls his eyes but he comes in front of Stiles and pulls out the flower things from inside his pocket. Stiles smiles and his dad brings him his. It's kind of funny how they both decided to wear similar ties; Stiles was wearing a pink tie with white poke-o-dots, and Derek was wearing a light lavender tie with pastel blue stripes on it. Derek got Stiles a pink rose for his and Stiles got Derek lavender for his; ok, maybe they looked at each other's ties. No one can say that they did or didn't.

They pin them to each other and Stiles's dad takes about a dozen photos. Then they take their side-spooning photo, as Stiles likes to call it. They have one where Derek is hooking his chin over Stiles's shoulder and has both his arms wrapped around Stiles's middle, and Stiles is holding onto his hands.

Stiles's dad takes many pictures and promises Derek that he'll send his mom some of them. Derek nods and Stiles says his goodbyes and the two of them walked to Derek's car before they cruise to the Hale's house. Once they enter, Stiles can hear Cora screeching about something and how Laura is trying, failing, to soothe her.

"Cora!" Derek calls up the stairs and his sister storms out of her room looking ready to maim and kill.

"Do you see this, Derek?!" She points to a torn section on the bottom of her dress, and her hair, which for some odd reason is all frizzy and not it's normal self. He can see tears forming in her eyes and a huge hit of sorrow hits him before he can stop it.

"Cora, we can fix this." Before Derek can offer a solution, Stiles is dragging him upstairs and telling Laura to get him a sewing kit and a hair straightener.

"I can sew; can you straighten her hair?" Stiles asks quickly and Derek nods without actually knowing what he's agreeing to, but in half an hour, Cora looks normal and there are no tears. Derek was so relieved because he can breathe again, and that meant that Stiles could breathe again, which meant he felt all of that worry.

"Are you ok?" Derek asks Stiles softly as they walk down the stairs to wait on Cora's date.

"Me? Yeah, are you ok?" Derek just nods and Stiles smiles softly, kissing his temple before they sit to wait on whoever asked Cora.

It took a few minutes but the doorbell finally rang, and in rushed Isaac, holding a bouquet of roses and a corsage. "Isaac?" Derek asks slowly and Isaac snaps towards Derek and Stiles.

"Oh, hey guys." Derek and Stiles just wave weakly as Cora comes down the stairs and hugs Isaac tightly.

Derek and Stiles choose to ignore it as Talia finally comes to take the pictures. The pictures were quicker and more eloquent than they were with Stiles's dad and he's glad, because he just want to go to the actual event already.

"Have fun!" Talia calls after them. They both wave at her drive to the school's gym.

The room is loud and filled to the brink of juniors and sophmores dancing and socializing. Derek takes hold of Stiles's hand and leads him over to where the pack is.

"What's up, guys?" Scott asks once they approach, they both shrug and Stiles looks at the dance floor, not feeling the loud and hyperactive style of dance. Derek pressed his nose against Stiles's jaw line and that got him back to the real world. Stiles put their noses together and shook his head slightly while Derek did the same. They heard the others "awwwee" and turned to them.

"That was like disgustingly cute, like always." Jackson spoke for everyone and Stiles had to smile, 'cause, yeah, they were grossly, disgustingly, and extremely cute, and he wouldn't have it any other way.

The music didn't really lighten up for a while, so Stiles and Derek stood off to the sidelines, waiting for a slow song to hit.

Finally, "Kiss Me" by Ed Sheeran played through and Derek extended his hand in invitation. Stiles took his hand without a second thought and put his head against Derek's shoulder while his other hand gripped Derek's upper back, Derek had put his cheek on top of Stiles's head and had his hand around Stiles's waist. They swayed to the slow music and Stiles was prepared to just fall asleep against Derek like that.

"I love you." Derek mumbled into Stiles's hair, and yeah, it totally made his heart skip.

"I love you too." Stiles pressed a kiss to Derek's neck and the two just waltzed around until the end of it came on and a loud, new, techno song came on that Stiles wasn't feeling.

"You don't seem like you're having a good time." Derek said about a half an hour later, stroking Stiles's back aimlessly.

"I thought it would be more slow songs. This just seems like a rave." Derek nodded and grabbed onto Stiles's hand before pulling him up and taking him to the parking lot. Derek did something within the car and "Werewolf" blasted through the speakers, but it was a cover with a deeper and more understanding voice.

"Are you signing this?" Stiles asked with a delighted smile, because no way can his wolf sing. But, Derek's ducked head and read cheeks say that he can, and Stiles takes Derek out of the car and snakes his hands around his neck.

They say like that until the song ends; Derek's hands on Stiles's waist, and Stiles still wrapped around Derek's neck, but once the song ends, Stiles goes towards Derek and Stiles can't help but fall in love with him all over again.

They went back to the Hale house and Stiles sucked a good enough hickey that it stays till morning, and when Derek sees it, his eyes just widen and he turns to Stiles.

"You do realized that you just claimed me as your mate, right? That's why it won't go away. It's a mark, a sign." Derek didn't seem angry, on the contrary, he seemed excited, but the general worry was clouding his emotions, and Stiles gave Derek a proud and predatorial smile.

"I figured as much, truthfully. You already did me the night we found out we were mates, right?" Derek ducked his head in embarrassment, but Stiles just lifted his chin up and smiled at him. "I'm not mad. I just didn't figure it out till now. You, Derek Hale, are too precious to be mad at." and that was it. He had a mate now all because of one stupid experiment that everyone thought was going to go horribly wrong.

Good thing Stiles always defied the odds.

It was the last day of school and the entire school was back in the cafeteria, listening to whether the experiment will become permanent or not.

"I can see that the experiment was a success for some, and for others it didn't work out. We will not be continuing with the partner system, but we will be keeping similar students in similar classes, because the teachers saw progress that they didn't see before. I hope everyone understands." Principal Deaton gave one of his almost sincere smiles and leaves the room before anyone could say a word.

Stiles was holding Derek's hand the whole day and he definitely didn't plan on letting go anytime soon, so, yeah, he'll be sticking with his partner, his mate.

Maybe junior year didn't suck completely after all.


End file.
